Zombie action-RPG Dead Island 2 will now come out a week earlier expected, with its release date officially moving from April 28, 2023 to April 21. Dead Island 2 was first announced all the way back in 2014, and so many will likely be relieved to learn that the game is now coming out sooner than expected.Dead Island 2 disappeared after its initial reveal, with little in the way of updates about the game and its development progress. Similar to its predecessor, Dead Island 2 found itself trapped in development hell, with the sequel passed from one developer to the next. Eventually, Dead Island 2 made its way to Dambuster Studios, and the game was re-revealed to the world with gameplay trailers that introduced the characters, story, gameplay features, and more.RELATED: Dead Island 2's ESRB Rating Confirms Unconventional Weapons, Intense GoreDead Island 2's re-reveal gave franchise fans hope that they would finally get to play the game sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, Dead Island 2's release date has not been safe from delays, pushing the game from February 2023 to April 28, 2023. Now it's been announced that Dead Island 2 has gone gold, meaning development on the game is effectively done, and it will launch on April 21 instead of April 28.

No reason has been given as to why Dead Island 2's release date has been moved forward, but one can make an educated guess. When Dead Island 2's release date was first delayed from February 3 to April 28, the day was free from competition. Since then, however, EA delayed Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's release date to April 28, meaning Dead Island 2 would have to square off against one of the year's most-anticipated games from one of the world's most-recognizable franchises.

It would make a lot of sense for publisher Deep Silver to have decided to move Dead Island 2's release date to avoid unnecessary competition with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, though the official reasoning has not been made public. Now the only game that Dead Island 2 shares its release date with is Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, a Nintendo Switch exclusive collection of decades-old games that shouldn't really pull any sales away from the zombie game.

While franchise fans wait for the Dead Island 2 release date to finally roll around, they may be treated to more gameplay videos and trailers to keep the hype train rolling. Recent Dead Island 2 videos have focused on the game's playable characters, but perhaps future videos can focus more on the world players will be exploring come the game's launch in April.

Dead Island 2 launches April 21 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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